SeeDs, Guardians and Love
by Khamonai
Summary: AU What if... everything we thought we knew from the game never quite happened this way or not at all - instead ancient secrets slowly reveal themselves... And in the middle of this mess: Seifer Almasy, Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht and Icaé Faero
1. A nightmare and a new mission

_Disclaimer: _I don't own any of the following... Final Fantasy (only some of the games and my muses, who are happily rampaging in my mind...), Magic - The Gathering (again - all I own are my ideas for creative use)

Thanks to Daughter of Night this little piece of insanity is freed of (hopefully all) errors (except for OOCness - blame my muses for insisting on certain quirks ^^) and could be put up here... Only one thing left to say...** Have fun reading!**

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**SeeDs, Guardians and... Love**

**A nightmare and a new mission**

I sat up in my bed, groaning when I realized that I was still panting due to the dream I just had. I hated waking up like that, since every time I get one of these nightmarish dreams, it takes me some time to realize just where I am and that the scenes I'd just seen had not happened just now, but were a mere dream. Even if it was a nightmare, based on my memories, it was still somewhat frightening.

_Shit! Again that dream… I hate it! I really, really hate it! It's always the same… all over again – as if __my memories aren't enough…_

I glanced at the alarm clock, which stood on a small table next to some plants, and groaned once more. _It's still this early?! Holy… And what the hell am I supposed to do now?_ I knew that, now being almost fully awake, I couldn't fall asleep again. Yet it was still very early in the morning and there wasn't much I could do.

I sleepily tossed aside my sheets and fell out of my bed. The reason for this being that in my sleep I had come very close to the edge and moving – even if it was only a tiny bit – simply wasn't possible anymore. _Ouch! … That was my elbow!_ I cursed. _Damn! That really hurt!_

Normally I don't have that problem, since my bed is quite large. Seeing as I tend to toss and turn in my sleep I need that… or more specifically when I've got one of my nightmares.

My little stunt was successful in waking me up some more. _Lucky me…_ I picked myself up from the place on the relatively cold floor and made my way over to the kitchenette, where I grabbed something for breakfast and started eating, but it didn't cost me a lot of time – it never does. After having finished, I snatched myself some fruits and walked back into my bedroom again, where I looked out of the large window. Not even the sun was shining yet… I could see the last stars on the morning sky, but it was already dawning – soon I would be able to watch the sun rising.

_I think that's worth waiting for… Not like I've got something to do right now… _

I opened the large window to let the clear, fresh morning air in and not much later sunrise came, along with breathtaking colours. That's something you only get to see when you're up that early in the morning… I was almost glad that I had woken up…almost.

But it was still awfully early in the morning. _So….What am I gonna do now?_ I slowly uncurled myself and stood up from my place on the windowsill.

I had an idea. Granted, it was not a new one, since I did that on a regular basis, but what else could I do? Running around in my nightclothes wouldn't do, so… I exchanged my loose black pants and a comfortable top in flaming colours for black leather pants, several belts – three green ones with small ornaments were slung around my hips (one to hold my pants and the other two were hanging a bit more loose and crossed 'round my hips) and another three, more narrow and dark, around my right thigh – dark boots with buckles (they pretty much resemble motorcycle boots…) and a sea-coloured (variations of blue, green and turquoise) shirt. This shirt is not really tight, since I need to be able to move freely when I fight… with mid-length sleeves and above the sleeve on my right shoulder I quickly fixed some sort of shoulder plate – it's exchangeable – some people might also call it a shoulder armour. I'm not always wearing it, but sometimes it's quite handy. Last but not least I put on my leather gloves, which are also black… I may not wear them all the time, but definitely often. After having finished this, I tied up my hair. Now I was almost ready for the day… Almost… there was still something missing…

A few steps brought me over to the place where my sword rested and I picked it up to examine it. _Yep, that's what's been missing…_ I fixed it on my back and was finally ready to go and face a new day. _Sounds like it's some kind of challenge…_

The only place I could go now and do something productive with all the energy I had thanks to my nightmare, was the Training Center, which is open 24 hours a day. I sincerely doubt that there are going to be many people, since they're probably all sleeping – like I should, but cannot.

I closed the door to my dorm room, walking out of the area and finally through the corridor to bring me closer to my destiny, the Training Center. A few minutes later I silently passed one of the instructors, who were keeping watch that the students of Balamb Garden follow the rules and are not out in the middle of the night to do some kind of… whatever. They're standing in front of the entrances of the different areas like for example: the front gate, the infirmary, the cafeteria, the library, etc. to guard them…

Instructors are easy to make out, due to their distinctive robes. I'm not exactly fond of the instructors, seeing as they somehow give me the creeps – don't really know why, though… _Must be some kind of special ability that all instructors possess to scare the students into behaving…_

Finally I reached my goal, the Training Center, after passing another instructor. Another corridor, this one had a broad green line in the middle of it (everything here has an assigned colour – the Training Center has green, whereas the dorms have white as their distinctive colour…) and on one of the walls B-16 is written in large green letters. Even though it was still considered night time, everything in here was well lit. I ended up in the space between the two huge metal doors separating this area from the actual training area, where all of the monsters resided…

The doors were always closed to keep them from escaping into Garden and creating mayhem and destruction.

As soon as you leave the corridor and enter the actual dangerous area it feels and looks like you have just entered a jungle with damp air and lots of greenery with only some metal parts of the floor reminding you that this is a closed area and not the real thing. Every now and then there are some posts with red lights to mark the edges, but otherwise it's really as if you had entered another world. A very dangerous world – one that can even cost your life… Because of this you have to prepare yourself and check your equipment carefully before even entering. First thing we learn and best thing to never forget!

It doesn't matter which one of the doors you choose. You can enter through one and leave through the other one, since the whole area is connected through a basic path. I chose the left door and started moving carefully towards the middle…

Roughly half a minute later I got a rush of adrenaline when I first heard a T-Rexaur roaring and a second later I saw a huge specimen of said species running into my direction. _Hyne, what a start for a day!_ Reaching for my sword and drawing it, I prepared myself for the oncoming battle.

Nearly two hours – or what I believed to be two hours – one T-Rexaur, several Grats (damned beasts always try to put me to sleep…) and two Raldos later, I almost stumbled out on my way back to my room. I wasn't tired, more like kind of exhausted, not to mention that my earlier energetic outburst was long over by now… _Too much adrenaline?_ Now I could use some sleep to make up for the lost energy, but that wasn't possible anymore. _Damn…_ I had other things to do, places to be…

However, I still had some time left. _I definitely need a shower – preferably a long one…_ You can shower at the Training Center, but I rarely use this option – preferring the privacy of the shower in my own room. My muscles ached slightly and I had to do something about it, if I didn't want (them) to be sore tomorrow… _And after that I'd probably better check my stuff…_ _Even though I doubt that I've forgotten something…_ These and other thoughts kept me company on my way back.

Approximately one hour later I had showered, done some stretching to prevent even more sore muscles and cleaned my sword. Still had to check my bag… Which was exactly what I did, since I was about to get a new mission today and I wanted to be ready for it.

Some time later I was walking out of my dorm room for the second time that morning, but this time to get the orders for this assignment. A new day had started for Balamb Garden and the instructors were gone from their nightly places. Students, youngsters and even a few SeeDs could be seen doing their morning routines, being on their way to classes or to the cafeteria, to get some breakfast. It was like every other morning.

I already had my bag with me in order to be able to depart immediately after our orders were given. We would leave Balamb Garden then and travel to wherever this assignment was going to take us. The only hint I had about our location was the headmaster's hint that we were going north and had better pack some warm clothes… _Fantastic hint! Even more fantastic location, seeing as I hate the cold…_

_We… that's one Seifer Almasy and me…Talk about the existence of an evil deity! Or at least 'bout sadistic godly jokes… _The headmaster had informed us yesterday about certain arrangements for this assignment, but as usual the more specific orders were not given until just before leaving.

When I heard yesterday evening whom I'd been paired up with, I wasn't exactly happy with the headmaster's choice of my partner. _But who am I to tell him this?_ Therefore all I had done was lift an eyebrow, but wisely had said nothing. There were seemingly two SeeDs required – and very specifically a male and a female one… The reasons were not told… yet… – and I seemingly happened to be the only female SeeD that hadn't had a mission during the last month or wasn't already gone on some assignment…_The joy… Seems that this is going to be some undercover action or something in that direction…_ I desperately hoped that I was wrong.

SeeD… that's what I am, or better said: It's my job. SeeDs are fighting specialists, or… if you want, mercenaries. Got a problem with our choice of job? Well, that's not my problem… We mostly work in small groups and it's relatively expensive to hire us… but we're worth our money! Ok… enough self-advertisement for now…

_It could've been every other SeeD, but noo… it had to be him. Seifer Almasy… It's not like I hate him or something… but, it's a real strange sort of friendship we share… he seems to tease me constantly. Though sometimes – on these oh so very rare occasions – he's really great to talk to – that is… if he's not trying to annoy me on purpose. Otherwise you could say that we get along quite well…_

I briefly thought about going to the cafeteria, but dropped the idea as soon as I saw how packed the whole room was… _Too many people…_ I turned around without even entering and started moving again in the general direction of the front gate. The surface of Balamb Garden has lots of plants and water and was, at least in my eyes, beautiful to look at.

The interior was built like a circle, in the middle of which there was a lift to move up to either the classrooms (on the second floor) or the headmaster's office (third floor). The circular walkway, broad enough for at least four or five people to walk next to each other, was 'floating' over the water that was underneath it. I don't know why it was built that way, but it definitely looks calming to the eye.

I know the Garden almost inside out, due to my long stay here and when I was younger I especially loved the various decorative and complicated patters on the floor.

As soon as I reached the front gate, which is exactly opposite to the dorms, I was greeted with the sight of a broadly grinning Seifer. _Oh sweet Hyne!… He's in one of his playful moods… That grin says everything… and his teasing is telling the rest…_ But before he could grate too much on my nerves, I was saved by headmaster Cid and one instructor. Anymore of Seifer's teasing and we would've gotten into a full-blown fight to release some stress… As things stood, all I did was glare daggers at him. _The day's getting better and better…_

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_Liked it? Hated it? Found mistakes, strangeness or other stuff that's not making sense?_

Please take some time and tell me what you think about it! Thanks for reading _#gets dragged off by her muses#_ Sorry! _#waves#_ No need to hurry... _#mumbles and gets glared at my her muses#_


	2. Leaving for the north

_Disclaimer: _I still don't own any of the following... Final Fantasy (only some of the games and my muses, who are happily rampaging in my mind...), Magic - The Gathering (again - all I own are my ideas for creative use)

Only one thing left to say before the insanity my muses unleashed begins...** Have fun reading chaper two!**

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**SeeDs, Guardians and... Love**

**Leaving for the north  
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After we'd been informed about our new assignment – it wasn't that much information… most of the stuff we'd already heard yesterday – we got some warnings from the instructor and a few friendly words from the headmaster.

After the two left us alone, Seifer looked at me, "Ya ready, kid?"

I sighed, "As ready as I'll ever be… Let's go." _Yeah… I know… what a witty retort, but hey! Bear with me…_

After leaving the Garden grounds, which took several minutes, we walked the whole way to Balamb-City. It was a long road and monsters got into our path, but not for very long… My sword and Seifer's gunblade – Hyperion – made short work of them… _Well… at least it wasn't boring…_ At the railway station we got ourselves two tickets to Vinoria-City, our destiny. _Vinoria definitely is up north… But… It could be worse… We could've been sent to Trabia… At least in Vinoria the cold is not as bad as it is in Trabia… but it's not quite spring yet and there's still the possibility of snow… as low as it may be…_

The journey itself would last several hours – first we had to go to Deling-City, Galbadia, and there we had to change trains for Vinoria-City – and hopefully I would be able to catch a few hours of sleep. I got tired and sleepy because of all the fighting and walking around that I'd done that day… Yet I was afraid that Seifer was probably not going to let me get much more sleep than a short nap.

After finding our compartment, I placed my bag carefully on the floor – my sword and a few other important things were in it – and claimed a spot for me, where I promptly curled up and went to sleep. Seifer could do whatever he wanted for all I cared, as long as he didn't interrupt my sleep, because otherwise I wouldn't play nice…

In Deling-City there was no time left for anything, we changed trains and were on our way again. By now it was already early afternoon, but I couldn't care less. It seemed that all I could do right now was sleep… Even when we had to wake up to leave one train and board another, I merely dragged myself forward, but in reality I was half asleep. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ At least Seifer hadn't bothered me yet. But it seemed he was content with sleeping too… _I wonder what he did last night or last week to need to sleep… _But I wasn't about to question my luck.

When I woke up again, this time being fully awake – much like I was in the morning – I didn't want to disturb him, or worse… wake him up…, and so I stood up, silently slipped through the doors and left for the corridor to have a look out of the large windows I'd seen earlier. But just before I could close the doors again, I saw that Seifer had woken up too. Now I really wanted to leave, because I didn't want to get dragged into some exchange of words. I'm rarely in for longer conversations – meaning that I had to do more talking than usual… I turned around immediately and basically fled… The windows were looking very interesting today…

The view was amazing, or more like breathtaking… There's no other word to describe what I could see right now… The plain wasn't very large, which is why I could clearly see the mountains surrounding it and since the railway was raised, I could also look down and watch the large river flowing beside it. The blue sky was somewhat mirrored in it and I could not help but wonder how that happened. Then, all of a sudden the whole scenery reminded me of home. But before I could dwell any longer in my memories a voice – I recognized it as Seifer's deep baritone – dragged me back to reality. It wasn't like I had gotten that flashback on purpose… I simply hadn't been able to stop it from happening on my own…

"Like what ya see, chibi?"

I didn't bother answering his teasing question_. I mean, what could I possibly say? It's obvious that I do, ne? And I can't do much against Seifer calling me a dwarf… Compared to him, I almost am… _ Instead I continued looking out of the window. Although I couldn't see it, not even through a reflection in the window, I was quite sure that he was smirking. It was always clearly audible in his voice, or at least I could hear it…

In times like these I was ready to swear that he loved doing this to me as much as he loved to tease and annoy Squall Leonhart – him being Seifer's favourite victim. _I'm absolutely aware of the fact that Squall and I have more than just one similarity… It's probably no wonder that pretty much everyone in the Garden refers to us as 'The Ice Twins'. They call Squall the Ice Prince and me the Ice Queen… Come on, we aren't THAT bad, now are we? Then again… maybe we are. But hell if I care!_ Seifer's basically the only one who can make us react, even if it's only in an angry way that mostly results in a fight… The two of us, Squall and me, hardly ever respond emotionally to anything or anyone… And believe me, they did try. And occasionally some still do, but Seifer with his teasing is the only exception – he can almost force us to react. The result may not always be pretty, but he's got an impressive record of success… I've got to give him that…

Well… it's not that we don't react… I DO react – at least to a certain degree – and I think I can also say this 'bout Squall. Therefore my use of 'we'… It's just… You need to be able to read the tiny hints he gives, like his posture, his eyes and… ah well… you know… When you know how to read and interpret Squall's eyes correctly, they are rather expressive and can tell you a lot about his current mood.

Then there's me… there's hardly any difference between the two of us… Seems like this is the origin of our 'Twin Title'… _What I'm feeling is my business and no one else's. I suppose the same reasons are valid for Squall, but I'm not absolutely sure of it. We've hardly ever had a longer conversation with each other… ah… Whatever…_

"Hey! Ya still among the living, Faero?" Seifer waved a hand in front of my eyes as if he wanted to test that.

_No, I'm already gone…_ "Go away…"

Maybe that had sounded childish, but I couldn't bring myself to care – not the least bit. If my words worked, then that was fine with me. If not… I was going to survive it. Somehow… hopefully.

"And what are you gonna do if I stay?"

Again I didn't answer his question. _It was useless. So… Why should I even bother with an answer? It wouldn't change anything. Maybe… If I continue my silence he'll go away?_ A mental snort followed that thought. _Yeah… as if…_

"Really… you're soo talkative today…"

It was impossible to miss his sarcasm… And again Seifer had managed to annoy me, but I still didn't want to answer. The view before me continued to hold my attention and my thoughts were running wild…

_That's what he wants, ain't it? He wants me to get irritated enough to answer him. Seeing as my answer would be rather rude right now and since that's not really bothering him, he would've reached his goal by making me talk. Additionally, through my answer he'd get even more things to tease and annoy the hell out of me with. Shit! There's absolutely no way out…_

"Get back to reality, chibi! It's absolutely not the right time for going into one of your internal monologues and shutting out the rest of the world. We're going to arrive in Vinoria-City in 'bout five minutes?"

_How the hell did he know that?_ Seifer had been right. Not even half a minute later I heard the announcement of the guard. _And… can somebody stop him? Please?_ I hate it when he's calling me that, referring to my size… granted I'm not very tall, but still…

_And all of that just because I'm what? … Mere 26 centimetres smaller than him! It's not fair! But still… why did he have to come up with that infernal nickname?_

After the announcement I went back into our compartment to get my things. It was already late afternoon when we finally arrived in Vinoria-City. We'd been travelling by now for almost 10 hours. I think it was good that we slept a great deal of that time or else we would've been fighting long ago…

Sadly though there was no time left for me to get my coat out, since it was nearly at the bottom of my bag… I didn't know it yet, but I was going to regret that one bitterly.

When we left the train, I took some time to look around. The railway station itself was neither large nor small, but somewhere in between. It was well lit and made it easier to get a first impression of the Vinorian craftsmanship – everything is aesthetic.

But as soon as we got out of the station, I realized very quickly my mistake on the train. The temperature was way cooler here and even more so in the late afternoon. I was already getting slight goose bumps… _I really don't wanna think about the nights here… Shit! It's cold! I should've taken my coat out and put it on, damn the consequences… but nooo… I had to leave it in my bag…_ I glared at said item and silently grumbled for a while. How could I have forgotten about the headmaster's hint about the cold? _Stupid me… I should have remembered what it means to me when someone from Balamb says that it's going to be colder…_ I looked to my right where Seifer was standing, who was apparently feeling not the least bit cold.

_Not fair! Why did I had to end up so sensitive to the cold? _I know that I like it better when it's warm – can't help that… Where I'm originally from, the temperature is always higher than here in Vinoria – or even in Balamb. Yet… Balamb's quite okay with me, since the difference in temperature isn't too large. The reason for this being that while Balamb is not exactly on the equator, it's still near enough. Balamb is known for its pleasant and idyllic climate…

But this…? Vinoria is a completely different story… _I wonder if it snows here?_ Snow is a rare sight for me – even though it's snowed occasionally in Balamb, that wasn't the case in every winter. _Back home it never snows… or at least I can't remember anymore…_ I snort mentally. _Not like that means much…_

"C'mon, don't tell me that ya can't move anymore, 'cause if we don't get a move on, we're going to miss the bus and then we're gonna have to walk all the way. What's up with ya anyway? You're spacing out more than usual…"

_Yeah, thanks for reminding me…_

But Seifer was right. We're going to miss that bus if we don't hurry up a bit, which would be my fault… Fortunately we managed to get the bus to the inner city, where Noavyn Juun and his wife lived. I made myself comfortably on my seat, staring out of the window, not intending to talk before we reached our destination, but the silence was soon broken. Guess by whom… Seems like my attempts on ignoring Seifer were useless - he isn't someone you can ignore easily… And all I had wanted to do was think about this new assignment and wonder what we would have to do.

"Yo! Ice Queen! Why the sudden change of attire? You look almost normal… That's scary!"

_Not really, it's just…_ "You DO realize that if I was running around here, as I do in the Garden… Some parts of the population here would be likely to get a heart failure… and we don't want that, now do we? Not to mention that some might take a closer look…" My sarcasm was almost visible. Besides I didn't change that much. For Seifer it may not be a problem, when he's stared at, but I, on the other hand don't like being stared at. Period.

…Here I have to say that only someone who knows me well or at least has a very good idea of interpreting my actions – like Seifer – would've realized this… Yet I'd merely altered the number of my belts, even though I wasn't too happy about that. But it was definitely better than attracting anymore unwanted attention than I already did, due to my one visible tattoo. Another change was the visibility of my sword, which I had put into my bag, since I had nothing to conceal it – like a coat or at least a jacket – and mercenaries are not always welcome…

Currently I was more or less without a weapon – at least a visible one – though… Even in this state I was capable of taking down a monster or if necessary, also a human attacker. For now I would have to rely mostly on magic to defend myself, should we be attacked. _But not for much longer…_

The third thing I'd changed was my shirt – I had exchanged it for a long-sleeved one.

Currently I was happily soaking up the warmth in the bus, but as soon as we're going to leave it, I would be stuck freezing again. My warmer shirt didn't help much to lessen the cold. _As soon as I get the possibility of searching for it, I'm going to wear that coat! _

Seifer has less trouble… One of his trademarks is his long grey coat – very useful in cold surroundings and to conceal weapons from 'innocent' onlookers.

"Come on – you're more fun when you're actually talking!" Seifer said.

"Don't wanna."

"Nah… You do realize that we've got to get along with each other for however long this mission is going to last?"

_No need to answer this one… He and I both know that it's exactly like he said. There's no point in talking forever about it._

Eventually we reached our destination and got out of the bus. It took awhile until we found the building, where we were supposed to get more specific orders for our assignment. Several minutes later we were still standing in front of it and admiring the awesome construction. It seemed that the more important the building the more complicated and aesthetic it is designed.

As soon as we entered, I felt relieved that it was warmer inside. Seifer must've caught my expression of relief and started teasing me again. _Then again, what else is new?_ But right now I was neither in the mood to retaliate verbally, nor was I warm enough. I was frozen – my teeth were chattering!

"Oh – shove it! I'm frozen! At least let me gain some warmth before you start grating on my nerves again… please?" The first part I'd almost shouted at him then got a grip on myself and started explaining… _Fate must be laughing at me right now…_

For a short moment he looked astonished – must've been my plea – and then tried to stifle his laughter. _Bastard! I hate him!_ When he finally calmed down enough to be able to talk again, the first thing he asked was if I'd really been serious. _Of course I am! Would I've asked otherwise? I'm not freezing just for the fun of it!_ I glared at him.

"Nah… just kidding…" Seifer's basically an expert in reading people, when it comes to hearing unsaid sentences. Or – at least he can do it with Squall. _Seems like he can read me also somewhat. Right now it couldn't be too hard to see that I'm cold…_

I shuddered shortly, decided I had gotten enough warmth again, picked up my bag from the floor and started walking in the general direction of the lift. I knew that we were going to talk about this later on, but I wanted to escape the inevitable as long as I possibly could.

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_Liked it? Hated it? Found mistakes, strangeness or other stuff that's not making sense? Let me know what you thought of it ^^  
_

*points at the review button* Come on - you know you want to press the shiny button! *grins* Now that we cleared the obligatory who is who... Let's head on to the next questions - like what this mission will bring? (Aside from insanity)


	3. Surprise, surprise!

_Disclaimer: _I still haven't earned enough money to own any of the following... Final Fantasy (only some of the games and my muses, who are happily rampaging in my mind...), Magic - The Gathering (again - all I own are my ideas for creative use)

...It's been awhile since I unleashed the last chapter, I know... Sorry! But life sadly didn't stop for me and happily munched on my rare time.. For now through I present: ** Chapter three!**

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**SeeDs, Guardians and... Love**

**Surprise, surprise!**

During the following two hours I silently prayed a few times to Hyne, but also to the ancestress – the faith of the nomads… the faith of my father – to remain calm. Normally I'm not overly religious, but that… I think Seifer had some similar problems, namely trouble to believe what they wanted us to do. _Now I know why they needed a male and a female SeeD… Fate is definitely laughing his or her – I don't particularly care – ass of!_

The only good news was that it wouldn't last too long… Though, on the other hand, two weeks can be very long – depending on what you're doing and with whom you have to spent them. The ride to the hotel, where we were going to stay for the duration of our job, was spent in relative quiet. Actually it was more of a shocked silence…

I mean – come on! This assignment is going to force us to live together – as in having to share rooms, just in case someone is checking on us… _Paranoid – that's what they are!_ Sadly enough I could understand their paranoia… – as a couple!!

_That's like… hell? Or at least something along those lines…_

Considering our ages – Seifer's 18 and I'm 17; _Yay! I'm finally of age! At least back home… in some other states too, but the laws are different everywhere … _– we're a relatively young _married couple…_ The moment I heard that, I very nearly fell out of my icy exterior and my chair… caught myself at the last moment… and almost asked them if they'd lost it. Probably with the addition of a few choice words…

The mission itself was neither that bad nor that hard – a simple case of protecting VIPs: Give Noavyn Juun and his wife additional protection. This was necessary, because Juun – a politician – was running for election as a senator. There have been some pretty serious threats against him and his family and because of this… I think you can imagine the rest…

We were provided with the 'necessary' information for our assignment: Vinorian politics, history, economy, art… to put it short: about pretty much everything. Why we needed the whole stuff? There may be cases when we would have to pretend to be some sort of assistants too… Now don't get the wrong impression – we don't have to be around Juun constantly. That's what the 'active security guys', as we dubbed them, are for. They were also the ones who provided us with all that information.

But still… it's going to be one hell of a time. _Can somebody please shoot me?_

Eventually we reached the hotel, another grand impressive building, where we were going to stay for the next two weeks. At least everything was already arranged and the only thing we had to get was the key card for our rooms.

Did I mention that for this mission my name's been changed into 'Sae Almasy'? Sae was similar enough to my real name and seemingly more common in Vinoria than Icaé. Due to the similarity I should react to my name, when I'm called by it.

_Well… it's not like Seifer calls me by my real name anyway… So far, he's been calling me chibi, Ice Queen, kid or something along those lines just to annoy me, or he simply calls me Faero. Why could Seifer keep his name and I had to change mine? Is Icaé Faero really that unusual?_

_Most people pronounce my name wrong, but hey – one can't have everything. It's actually pronounced like 'Isae' with emphasis on the 'sa' – which is spoken a bit sharply – and the 'e' – which is a bit stretched. But the way it's writ__ten is a bit confusing, I know – explaining too. Nevertheless, I like it – confusing or not._

The hotel itself was a very high building and like most buildings here an awesome construction of glass and some other materials, which I haven't any clue about. But it looks… wow! The Vinorians are in many ways artists and it shows in their buildings.

Our rooms were located rather high and so we had to take the elevator. Not much later we reached our floor and thus our rooms. _They are great… wait a second, is that…? Yeah, it is… Ohhhh – look! There's even a balcony!_ Some inner voice happily squealed. I left my bag on the couch, opened the large glass doors and stepped outside. _The view is like… wow!_ I got caught again in the raw beauty of the landscape. Due to the altitude I could clearly see the plains, rivers and mountains of Vinoria. Although it's cold here, Vinoria was a very beautiful, green and rich country. I almost felt at home here… but something was missing. Something important.

My peaceful moments of watching were all too soon over again. Seifer joined me silently on the balcony and I wondered if I should stay outside or escape inside. Yet… escaping was no real option since we had to live together and he could always ask me about my current behaviour, which was admittedly different than my usual act. So it was probably best to stay outside for a while longer – not to mention that I didn't want to give up the view right now – not even for a temporary relief.

"What's it with you and watching nature? Maybe I missed something in the past, but ever since we arrived here, you've been acting a little weird. Weirder than usual, that is…"

_The dreaded question… Seifer – you've definitely got a timing for asking unwanted questions… One day…_ "Must be your imagination."

"Nah! I've known ya longer than most people. Did ya already forget that? Ya can't fool me as easily as you can fool those security guys…"

_No, I haven't forgotten about that. And… as crazy as it is, it's true. There are not that many people who've known me as long as he and a few others in Balamb Garden. I sighed softly. I spent already more time in Garden than home. More than twice as much time… Still… sometimes, like now, I desperately miss home. Whatever – I can't change it anyway…_

I looked over to my tall companion and took a few more moments of watching him, before I finally decided on answering his questions.

Seifer Almasy, 18 years old and one bloody damn good fighter – I've got to grant him that and I know it out of personal experience… Short, blond hair with a strand that's never staying in place… and piercing emerald green eyes.

The one thing he always loves to torment me with is that he's, with him being 1,88 m tall, 26 centimetres taller than me. What else to say about him? Not much… He's wearing, just as always – I wonder if he ever takes it off? – his choker and, not to forget, his grey coat with the red cross/sword on the sleeves. I'm not really sure what it is, but it looks like a mix out of both…

Other than that? I already mentioned that he's an excellent fighter – a strong one. He has to be… considering his chosen weapon – and again I experienced that first-handed… Seifer is a gunblade-specialist. One of the only two SeeD gunblade-specialists…

What a gunblade is? Easy: It's a mix between a gun and a sword – it has the handle of a gun and the blade of a sword. Due to that you can shoot and slash at your opponent – an extremely dangerous mix!

You see, a gunblade is very difficult to handle – it takes a lot of skill and even more practicing, but when you can fight with one, you can inflict an enormous amount of damage. On the other hand gunblades are weighting quite a lot. Trust me on that one… I know what I'm speaking of. I really do.

There are very few people who actually use a gunblade, since it's so difficult and takes so much practice. I myself only know of three people who are currently using one, excluding myself. I know how to fight with a gunblade, but I rarely ever use it. Although, to be exact, I have to say that one of them isn't using his gunblade all the time anymore… He changed his weapon years ago, but occasionally he still uses it – at least as far as I know… The other two gunblade-specialists are both SeeDs – Seifer and Squall. As weird as this may sound – considering their 'relationship' – the two of them are training partners, but since they're the only SeeDs with this choice of weapon… There's not that much choice… Still… it seems like they understand each other the best when they are fighting and/or training… I watched them several times – it's breathtaking to see them fight… It looks like some lethal dance – one wrong step and you're lost…

"Yo! Ice Queen! Get out of wherever you're right now to gimme at least an answer!"

_Yeah… Whatever. It's always like this – he's going to unnerve me as long as it takes to get an answer. If I wanna have peace some time soon, I'm gonna have to tell him something. Just… what should I say? The truth? _A mental snort._ Then again… that could be fun…_

"I like it…" I finally admitted.

"Huh? You're really outta it, you realize that, don't'cha?"

And you know that why? "Nah… it just…"

"What?"

"It reminds me of home. With one difference." I stopped talking. _How did he do that? I always try to talk as little as possible, especially to him and yet he always manages to make me say more than I want to. Is that a special gift of him? _I really shouldn't have said the last part – it only served to make him curious.

"What difference?" He sounded as if he really wanted to know.

"It's way colder here. Back home it never gets this cold…" I leaned on the railing, looking down on the illuminated city. Then I risked a glance at Seifer, who looked disbelieving.

"C'mon – it's not really cold. Maybe a bit cooler than Balamb, but definitely not cold."

_Maybe not for you…_ I glared at him, daring him to say something, but he proved immune to it. _Must be the result of receiving pretty much all of Squall's glares…_ I mused.

"Ya cold?" Seifer asked.

_No… I'm just freezing. _

It seemed that he had interpreted my silence correctly, since he said nothing when I turned around, sidestepped him and went back inside. My eyes fell on my bag, which was still lying on the couch, where I'd left it. I went over and set it a bit aside to create more free space for myself. Then I started rummaging through it, looking for my coat, since I had had no possibility to get it out.

But it seemed that Seifer wasn't finished with me yet. He followed hardly two minutes later and settled himself on a seemingly comfy, small blue couch in front of me. Apparently he'd come up with more questions, while alone on the balcony, because the questioning started anew.

"Care to tell me now? What's it with you and the cold?" Then, as if it was an afterthought, he added, "Compared to Trabia it's actually reasonably warm…"

_Trabia? I don't even wanna think about that place now – way too cold! And… Vinoria not being much colder than Balamb? Hello? Big understatement._ I silently grumbled. Seifer appeared to be quite content – he'd even taken off his coat… But I couldn't blame him – in here it was pleasantly warm.

I raised an eyebrow, "What a pity! Seeing as I'm neither from Balamb nor from Trabia, that argument's not working. So… sorry – I despise the cold. Even Balamb's sometimes too near to the edge for my liking…" I simply couldn't help my slight sarcasm.

I quickly glanced over to the large glass windows that were located next to the balcony doors, which were currently hidden beneath slightly billowing thin, whitish curtains. I was captured again by the view of the large moon, which in itself wasn't that extraordinary, but the enormous size of the moon gave off the illusion of it being near enough to crash into Atai the next moment.

The moon gave off enough light to create shadows all around, even though we'd turned on the lights. Outside there had been enough moonlight that we had been able to get a good look at Vinoria at night. The darkness, only brightened by the moonlight, was fascinating.

I glanced again at Seifer, who actually looked a bit stunned after my comment. But he wouldn't be himself, hadn't he found a comment to return.

"Such words… coming from you, the Ice Queen herself? I'm shocked!" Again he was mocking me. "And here I thought Trabia was perfect for ya…" For that remark he only earned an indignant look.

"Think again…" I dryly shot back at him.

He became a bit more serious. "You were born in a desert?"

That, while not being true, came a bit too close to the truth. I couldn't help that I loved heat so much. I was the child of a nomad after all…no denying that.

Meanwhile, my search had finally paid off as I actually found what I'd been looking for… I left my place on the couch to hang my coat up and while doing so, I decided that I had to change the topic. I had no wish to continue this particular issue and ignored his last words. Instead I started to unpack my bag and putting the items away, after returning to my seat. Mind you, not all of its contents, just what I was most likely to need. Although… that's pretty much about what is in it…

Seifer seemingly had gotten the hint and followed my example, fortunately not saying anything –for now… It was getting pretty late and even though I had gotten much more sleep than usual, I was getting tired. _Must've been all the adrenaline today…_ When I finally came to an end – it hadn't taken that long, but still… – I couldn't stop myself from yawning anymore.

_Okay – enough for today… All I wanna have now is a long, hot shower and then some more sleep. At least we've got tomorrow off, before our assignment is starting… Only fourteen days left…_

They – the security guys – told us that we would most likely need the time to get familiar with the city… Not to mention that we were going to need a few things and we'd better get them as soon as possible. _Tomorrow's going to be a busy day…_

I snatched myself a few towels and went into the bathroom, before Seifer, who had finished unpacking not much after me, could do the same. After having finished – now I almost felt human again… – I discovered that in my hurry I'd forgotten my clothes… _Whoops… Okay… no big deal. Seifer will for sure also wanna have a shower as soon as possible. Hopefully… Not to mention: I'm tired! And I've slept so much today, it's almost unreal… So… to hell with it! I'm goin' out now._

I walked out – a large bath towel wrapped around me and another, smaller one around my head, to prevent my long hair from dripping on the floor – and way too soon met Seifer, who was currently sprawled on a large bed. The only bed… A… double bed… _Somebody shoot me now!!_

As soon as he saw me, he started grinning – I'd almost expected this reaction _– and asked me if I'd forgotten something. That earned him another indignant look, but I didn't really care anymore. _Of course I've forgotten something! Would I run around like that otherwise?_ The shower had merely woken me up a bit, but only enough to direct a weak glare at him… _Pathetic…_

Still grinning, he picked up some towels and clothes and just before finally vanishing into the bathroom, he quickly remarked, "For someone that small, you sure are well…" He couldn't finish his sentence, because I was reaching for something to throw at him. Whatever he'd wanted to say, was now left unsaid. My sword would've been an alternative preferable to throwing something, but it was out of my reach… Imagine the picture! Me, in some large towel chasing after Seifer with my sword … Hyne! It was ridiculous! Completely and utterly ridiculous… but still a fun thought to entertain…

At least I had some peace and privacy… but only for now…

I had to yawn again and decided that it was late enough and that I would like a bed very much. I changed my clothes and hung up the towels near the heating to let them dry during the night.

After lying down on the spacious bed I almost immediately fell asleep, only to wake up partially when Seifer returned from the bathroom and left his towels somewhere to dry. When I'm sleepy, I'm never in for serious arguing… My language also suffers then… a bit…

"So… What 'bout the bed? You gonna share with me or do I really have to take the couch?" He wasn't sounding very happy about the latter, but there wasn't much he could do, since I'd already 'claimed' the bed as mine – even though I'd done it after him, really – since he asked so nicely… _Okay… I understand him… The couch's probably a bit too small for his large form and after sleeping there he's going to be grumpy tomorrow… Grumpy Seifer? Not something I wanna experience… So that's a big no-no… Besides – I don't really care 'bout that right now – as long as he behaves himself…_

I sleepily looked up at him – he was standing in front of the bed, wearing his nightclothes – consistent of only loose drawstring pants and a shirt – and still damp hair from his earlier shower – and murmured, "Don't care. Ya can use the bed 's long 's ya leave me some space… We're both grown up and I wanna sleep, so… 's ya choice… G'Night!" These words said, I yawned again and turned around again to finally get some sleep. When I felt the bed shifting, I knew his unspoken answer.

A sleepy, "Night…", was the last thing I heard.

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_Liked it? Hated it? Found mistakes, strangeness or other stuff that's not making sense that I haven't found (or that makes perfectly sense to me)? Let me know what you thought of it ^^  
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*points at the shiny green review button* Come on - you know you just want to press it! *grins*

Authors notes: A lot of talking happened here... And the world finally got named *shrugs* They never specifically state a name for the FFVIII world (and really... Gaia just screams FFVII to me and planet? Pretty much the same. Atai is the Nigerian Creator Goddess and inventor of Deadly Arguments. She is married to Abassi, the Nigerian Creator God and Lord of the Sky. I liked the name Atai and the entries of this pair just seemed to fit *smiles* The next chapter will bring the morning after and some more talking and wondering.


	4. The morning after

_Disclaimer: _Nope, I still down own any of the following... Final Fantasy (only some of the games and my muses, who are happily rampaging in my mind... same as ever), Magic - The Gathering (only owing my ideas for creative application)

...It's time for the next chapter it seems. I decided to put online a chapter every month or every second month for now. Now.... what can I add before you start reading? A review would be nice *smiles* The traffic option of is all nice, but hearing what you think about this story so far ( yeah - I know, not much action and stuff...) would be even better! Alas - enjoy!**

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**SeeDs, Guardians and... Love**

**The morning after…**

Dreams, turning into nightmares – just like almost every other night. Not always nightmares, but I hardly ever had a decent night's sleep without dreams and slowly but surely that's starting to bother me… In this state I'm also not getting much sleep, but by now I'm relatively used to the lack of it.

The nightmares wake me up – if I'm lucky that is… otherwise I'm caught in the dreamscape with no way out. And after waking up I rarely can get back to sleep immediately and if it's already early in the morning I don't bother anymore, because it's easier to simply get up and try to forget. Sleep doesn't hold a promise of rest for me – it's a guarantee for nightmares and little rest. Sometimes… when it gets real bad I suffer from sleep deprivation.

It's just that I keep on getting weird and mostly incoherent dreams about all kinds of things and I'm incapable of doing something against them. And I did try. Though… I prefer these dreams to my hardcore-nightmares… _Everything's better than them._

In Vinoria sunset is much later than in Balamb and therefore it was still relatively dark, with only the moon to give some light. I woke up early in the morning and looked around in the dark room somewhat confused. _That's not my dorm room!_ Instincts kicked in and I quickly glanced around in the unfamiliar room and taking everything in, ready to attack everything moving, without even being fully awake.

Then, slowly, I remembered yesterday's events and my mind finally decided to get a move on and kick in. It's a wonder that I hadn't woken up Seifer with all the shifting I'd done during the night. Or had he and I just haven't realized it? While asleep, Seifer looked surprisingly calm and innocent and I wondered if he was dreaming.

The scar on his forehead was clearly visible in the glow I was unconsciously radiating. The Mako-glow – it was surrounding me completely like some really weird kind of halo – was lighting up the room additionally and so I could see. Sometimes, like now, I despised my heritage, because this glow could tell anyone possessing the necessary knowledge, exactly who – or what – I am. I could only hope that Seifer was not going to wake up now, or else I would have to do a lot of explaining and most likely get into quite some trouble.

Since I'd woken up at the same time as usual – when I'm not woken up by a nightmare – I was sure that Seifer would be waking up soon, too. There was no reason to stay in bed any longer and I wanted to stretch a bit, in order to wake up fully – which I did.

We had quite a few plans for today and I needed to choose the 'right' clothes – nothing too unusual, meaning nothing that would attract too much attention or give our secret away… Finally I decided to wear a combination I liked, found comfortable and that would keep me warm. At least in the beginning it had been my intention to wear something unobtrusive, but then I suddenly changed my mind. _To hell with it! I don't feel like wearing something like that! More like something in black…_

I was almost finished when Seifer woke up and started getting dressed too. Unlike me, he had chosen jeans and some T-shirts – a long-sleeved with a short-sleeved over it. I, on the other hand, was dressed in black leather pants, a light grey tank top with an inscription on the front, but I wasn't wearing my black coat – yet…

I rummaged again through my bag, till I had found the other item I'd been looking for, just when my partner came back from the bathroom and groaned unnerved.

"Don't tell me that you're going to put on make-up!"

A glare. _Who do you think I am? Me… and make-up? I've got other problems…_ "I hadn't planned on it…" I turned around and lifted one eyebrow, "…But you need some too…", he looked shocked – probably because of my suggestion. Seifer embarrassed… I never knew that this was actually possible! _Heh – that's kinda fun!_

"…aaw, c'mon! I was just joking! No need to get a heart failure… But seriously: Your scar's a bit too eye-catching. Same goes for my tattoos, hence I'm going to cover them." I hadn't been able to restrain myself from teasing him a bit and today I was in a rather playful mood.

After having said my share of words, I walked over to the mirror and started covering the tattoo beside my right eye. It took quite some time before I couldn't make it out anymore and I could start covering the two on my upper arms when I noticed Seifer, who had finished quite some time ago, looking curiously at me. By now I had finally finished my task and turned around, hoping that this would help the make-up dry a bit faster so that I could finally put on my coat.

"I didn't know that you had that many tattoos… What's it with you and crazy stuff like tattoos or that belt and leather fascination of yours? You're as bad as Squall – the only difference is that he hasn't got any tattoos…" Seifer curiously noted.

"And what's it with you and 'blades? Besides – I like 'em and I don't see a problem with that…"

"Hyne on a pyre! Ya running a fever? The Ice Queen is actually talking! And even in long sentences! I gotta have to mark this day red in my calendar!"

"Ah… Shut up! If I remember correctly, it was you who said yesterday that we had better get along… So I might as well start now…" I said.

"Still… I mean, it's not like I'm complaining, but… I think I could get used to it."

"Better not."

"You're no fun!" he complained and added, "You're way too serious. There's a good reason why you got the title of the Ice Queen and not someone else… And you know that."

I merely raised an eyebrow – something I seemed to do very often in the last 24 hours… "The title 'Ice Queen' actually belongs to Shiva, remember?"

"Yeah, but you…"

I interrupted his protests, since I didn't want to discuss that topic right now, but I wanted to know something.

"Other question: Ever since we arrived, you called Ice Queen more often than usual. Why?"

He shrugged. "Seemed somehow fitting… You're an enigma – you know that, don't'cha?"

_Uh…Whatever…_

Our bantering continued for a while, since I knew from experience that there was no use in telling Seifer to shut up or to get lost. _He's too stubborn for his own good… _Since it was useless I didn't bother to waste any time and words on it. Besides it was something I occasionally enjoyed, but it was a side of me that I'd never really shown to anyone in Garden.

One thing that he'd said during our exchange of words was true… By now I'd talked more to him in one day than to others in a week. But… I'd always responded to him – like Squall…

He mostly makes me furious or tries to drive me mad with all his teasing, but he always reaches his goal: He gets me to talk…

Yet… I remember a few times when he was really kind and caring and even more important: More serious than on most occasions. These were the times when we'd talked. Really talked – about all kinds of stuff and not just bantering or throwing insults at each other.

_I really wonder why he's such a bastard sometimes… Okay… I'm better off not saying too much. That would probably make me a hypocrite… I ain't got no wish to get teased by him forever… but then again: Who knows what time's involving? Seifer knows that I talk to him – occasionally… But it seems that he's forgotten that? Or is he just hiding it? Why…?_

"You're definitely thinking too much, kiddo."

_I know that myself… No need to tell me…_ "Ready to go?"

"You two really could be twins…"

_Huh? That came surprising… And… What the hell's he talking 'bout?_

Seifer's special talent came in handy again, when he answered without me having to say anything.

"Squall and you. There are so many similarities… Are you sure that you're not related?"

_Not that I know of… we aren't twins! I told him that much already – Has he forgotten everything? No – can't be… Many things, but not everything… But, now that he's said that again… Squall reminds me of someone…_

"C'mon – don't stop talking now! You were doing so well!"

_Err… yes… As soon as I know what you're talking about…_

"You know what? Ya should move here!"

_You crazy? Why should I? It's way too cold here!_

"Because ever since we arrived here, you've been changing – for the better. Now do me a favour and don't cancel all of your progress…"

_Whatever…_

I took my coat, put it on and opened the door, "You coming?"

In the elevator he started another conversation… With a surprising topic and also suprising consideration… "D'ya mind if I ask what the symbols on that shirt of yours mean?"

I had forgotten that the inscription was written in the Tolarian language and in Tolarian symbols. Of course Seifer couldn't read them! To him they were probably just some symbols… I had gotten this shirt as a birthday present from my older brother…

"It pretty much translates into: 'Per definition madness ends either in clarity… or in death.'"

"Nice quote… Where's it from?"

I shrugged. Of course I knew, but I couldn't possibly tell him that…

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_Liked it? Hated it? Found mistakes, strangeness or other stuff that's not making sense that I haven't found (or that makes perfectly sense to me)? Let me know what you thought of it ^^  
_

*points at the shiny green review button* Come on - you know you just want to press it! *grins*

Authors notes: Again a lot of talking happened here... Seifer is difficult for me to write (mind you - my muses seem to be somewhat OOC, but seeing as this is AU *grins and looks innocently* creative liberty!) as all I had for writing were other fics (the game I played was the german version... I need to start playing the english one now that I finally got a hold on one*huggles it* Writing him speaking... was... rather interesting) And now the first larger bits and pieces of Magic - The Gathering appeared. Could you tell which ones? *snickers* Not that I wasn't obvious *gets clobbered by muses*


	5. The nightmare called shopping

_Disclaimer: _Nope, I still down own any of the following... Final Fantasy (only some of the games and my muses, who are happily rampaging through my mind and traumatizing plot bunnies), Magic - The Gathering (I only owe my ideas for creative application)

...It's time for the next chapter it seems. Due to life going whack for awhile this chapter was delayed a bit. Sorry for the long wait! *thinks* Anything else? A review would be nice *smiles* The traffic option of is all nice, but hearing what you think about this story so far ( yeah - I know, not much action and stuff...) would be even better! Alas - I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it!

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**SeeDs, Guardians and... Love**

**The nightmare called shopping**

Vinoria-City is an amazing city – even though there hadn't been that much time, we'd already realized this. I had heard once about it's unique appearance, but this… Everything I'd heard was true, at least from what I could see right now. While yesterday there hadn't been much time for discovering the city, today was entirely different.

We made our way through the city, learning of several interesting things, finding out important places and got a map of the different means of transportation. As much as I despised it, we had to go shopping and there was no way around it. We really needed something suitable for the official events we were going to attend along with Juun. Security had said that such events wouldn't occur too often, but I wasn't sure if I should trust them on that. I need a dress… _Shit! I can't believe it! Me… and a dress…_ I didn't like them, because they were so impractical and restricted free movement – at least all dresses I've seen on my short shopping trips.

No one can really imagine me with a dress and I don't wanna think about it… _I hardly ever wear one… make that a never…_ It's been a very, very long time since the last time I'd been forced to wear a dress… Back then, I tried to stay out of everyone's way and succeeded in going unnoticed. Other than that? It must've been a very long time…

Before the hunt for clothes, we got ourselves the other things we needed, because unanimously we had decided to put that off until the end of our shopping tour. I just hoped that we weren't going to need very long for that last task so that we could finally return to the hotel.

The end came way too soon and I had to find myself a dress. _What a nightmare! _We then decided to separate in order to be able to find ourselves the needed clothes faster.

This wasn't as easy as it may have sounded. True, after selecting some dresses I tried them on, but almost instantly hung them back again, since I needed to be able to move freely, just in case I had to fight. Fighting in a dress is possible, but I don't like it and I've been able to avoid it till now, except for training… Pants are simply way more comfortable… and definitely not so revealing…

My final choice was a long turquoise dress with a long slit at the left side. When I tried it on for the first time, I found out that it fit perfectly, yet I wanted to see if it suited me. Therefore I got out in search of a mirror. _What's Seifer doing here? Has he already finished? How'd he find out where I'd been changing?_

Said young man was sitting almost directly in front of me and looking at me as if he'd never seen me before. _Ok… so he hasn't… at least not in a dress…_

"Wow… you look stunning." He sounded amazed and then – he smiled! And I'm not sure if he blushed or not, but then decided that this couldn't be possible. "You should wear a dress more often… darling." The pause was almost unnoticeable. _Impressive._ So he remembered who we were supposed to be… that's good to know too. "It's a way too rare sight…"

_And so is his smile – a real smile._ Not a grin or a smirk – a real smile… Still I was left with one question: Had that compliment been serious or not? "Maybe another time… So – you like it?" It was as much statement as it was a question.

Seifer nodded, "It fits you perfectly. Hope to see it more often on you?" I didn't know what to answer, so I left his question standing and used the silent excuse of still needing to see for myself what he had already told me. It was exactly what I'd hoped for… _perfect._

A quick glance over my shoulder told me that the shop assistant – whom I'd asked earlier for a bit of help to find a dress suitable for my expectations – had met up with one… no – make that two other shop assistants, who were all staring at us with some kind of hopeful expression on their faces. One was already older and still looking approvingly at Seifer's compliment, while the younger rest… _What in the ancestress' name are they expecting from us?_ Their looks were a bit… distressing. I was panicking a bit inwardly. This was something I didn't know how to cope with.

Thankfully Seifer seemed to know what they expected and came to my rescue – if you could call this a rescue. Confidently strolling over – _isn't there anything to make him lose his composure?_ _Then again…_ Right now I was grateful, because my nerves definitely were on their hind legs… _It's laughable. Really._ _I can face down an oncoming wave of monsters without flinching, but I back down when faced with three shop assistants? …Then again – I'm pretty sure we didn't cover this during our lessons! Maybe we should…?_

My thoughts were running in circles, abruptly stopped when Seifer carefully took hold of my arm – knowing full well how dangerous it can be to startle a fighter that will react when taken unaware to any actions as a perceived thread first and attack, asking questions later – and brought me flush against his body. THAT was more than enough to catapult me out of my mindscape and back to reality.

Unsure of what I was supposed to do I stood still, forced myself not to stiffen up completely, panicking and waited, hoping that he would take pity on me and give me at least some hint as to what I was supposed to do. The shop assistants' looks felt almost as if they were hot lances piercing my back. Again my nervousness threatened to close my throat and I desperately wished I had at least a weapon in my hand or even better – that I was on a battlefield!… _Everything but being here and…_

"Calm down before you hyperventilate.", came unexpectedly Seifer's soft whisper.

_But…!_ I sighed. His assessment was sadly very much correct. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried to relax muscles that had become way too tense in too little a time. One breath… another… and another. Finally I calmed down a bit more. All of this progress was almost destroyed when I heard his next sentences and nearly choked as a reaction.

"C'mon – put your arms around me and close your eyes. Lean against me and lemme do the rest."

_What?!_ But before I could react any further he continued.

"These ladies here want a floor show it seems. Let's give them something they can dream of, hmm?"

_Ergg…what? Brain shutdown. Must restart… Come again?__!_

Again he bowed his head down to whisper in my ear, "Normal human interaction really isn't your thing little Ice Queen, ne?"

Had we been alone in this room without any onlookers I would have glared at him and challenged him to a fight, but here? Sad as it was I couldn't even glare at him or give him a retort and was left with no other option than doing exactly what he said… and hoping that it would work.

Taking another deep breath, I slowly closed my eyes while breathing out and let myself rest completely again him, bringing my arms up to encircle his upper body, all the while trying to hide myself with him as protection and human sized cover. I knew that this would earn me a lot of teasing later, but right now I just wanted to vanish. Apparently what he did pleased them enough to let us go after what seemed endless hours later, but was in reality at most only a few minutes.

"Hey…! Come on – I know I'm irresistible, but you can let me go now… they are gone." This time it was clearly a tease, but not aimed to harm and quite friendly said.

At his words I nearly jumped back, but retained enough sense to do a quick check of our surroundings, before I let him go and stepped away, only to quickly flee and change back – _I wanted my other clothes back and to forget this episode! _The dress was still too unfamiliar to me… I wanted everything to be as it had been before I had tried it on and Seifer had seen me… and before the shop assistants from hell had harassed us with their silent pleading and refusing to let us go without appropriate compensation. But thankfully I hadn't needed to worry… Nothing had changed. Seifer apparently also wanted to forget this experience as soon as possible. _Or did he…?_

Half an hour later we'd finally bought everything we needed, taken a bus back to the hotel and were on our way to the lift when…

"Hey – look at that! Is that a panorama lift?" Seifer had found another lift to our floor… And it was a panorama lift – there was no doubt about that. The chance to use it and enjoy the sight of the city and the land was not something we could resist and thus chose this way of getting up to our rooms.

I feared that he would bring up the events of our last shopping stop, but thankfully he had enough sense to keep quiet and let me enjoy the sight. I wanted to get away from here as soon as possible, forgetting. _But…_ A mental snort. _As if!_ Seifer wouldn't let me and he would bring it up sooner or later.

* * *

_Liked it? Hated it? Found mistakes, strangeness or other stuff that's not making sense that I haven't found (or that makes perfectly sense to me)? Let me know what you thought of it ^^  
_

*points at the shiny green review button* Come on - you know you just want to press it! *grins*

Authors notes: For all of you who are waiting for Squall to come in - sorry, but that'll take a couple of chapters more. Seeds, Guardians and... Love is intended to be a long story and for now Squall isn't ready to come in yet. But he will.


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